Prodi for EU president, says youth leader

Date: 18/07/02

By Martin Banks

THE chairman of the European Youth Convention has thrown his weight behind growing calls for a president to represent the EU on the world stage.

Italian student Giacomo Filibeck says his compatriot Romano Prodi, currently the European Commission president, would make an 'ideal' candidate.

Filibeck was among 210 young people at last week's four-day meeting of delegates from member states and candidate countries.

They had been invited to Brussels to discuss the Europe they want to see in 25 or 50 years' time. But the event ended with some members branding it a 'mere PR stunt'.

Anna Mikkola, from Finland, said it was badly organised and felt the convention hadn't been taken seriously. Irish delegate John Friend-Pereira said members had not been given enough time to debate the issues.

But Filibeck, a 24-year-old political science student at Rome University, insisted the get-together had provided a platform for young people and spelled out his hopes for its 'adult' version, the Convention on Europe's future, headed by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.

He said he hoped the constitutional treaty to be drawn up by Giscard's 105-strong assembly would include a 'clear reference' to youth and recommend the establishment of a president to represent the EU.

Filibeck added: 'The Convention is tasked with making a major contribution to Europe's future and, for the sake of all young Europeans, I hope it does not fail.

'Above all, I hope the treaty will include a clear reference to dealing with youth issues, such as unemployment, which is not the case in existing treaties.'

Filibeck, a member of numerous youth organisations, also wants the role of the European Parliament to be strengthened.

'The Parliament, as the only democratically elected EU institution, should be the real legislative power, certainly in the financial and budgetary field,' he said.

'I also think Tony Blair and José María Aznar's suggestion for an EU president is a good idea and I can't think of a more ideal candidate than Romano Prodi who, despite the criticism he's faced, has done a good job.'

Filibeck says one of the Convention's key tasks is to 'reconnect' the EU with its citizens but feels the disenchantment towards the EU is shared by young and old alike.

'There is great disaffection but it's unfair to say it is just young people who are turned off by the EU,' he said. 'It is not a generational thing and I just wish people would stop blaming us.

'If there is one message I hope the Youth Convention gave out it is that we do care very much about the future of our continent.'

The chairman of the European Youth Convention, Giacomo Filibeck, has thrown his weight behind growing calls for a president to represent the EU on the world stage.

http://european-convention.eu.int/jeunesse_doc.asp?lang=EN http://european-convention.eu.int/jeunesse_doc.asp?lang=EN

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